Trouble at Painted River by Matt Cole

Author:Matt Cole [Cole, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

The Bastard is back!

The wanted poster read:

WANTED!

FOR MURDER, ROBBERY, AND JAILBREAK

BIRCH HAMILTON SIX FOOT,

AUBURN HAIR, BROWN EYES.

A STRONG BUILD. WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN.

$2,000 REWARD

DEAD OR ALIVE

The drawing accompanying the notice was crudely executed, yet the likeness was unmistakable, even if Birch did not like how it looked. The face staring back from the yellowed paper at Adeline and Andrea was identical to the one looking at them across the table.

‘I had to tell you,’ Birch said.

This was the moment he had dreaded. Yet when he looked at them, he knew he need not have worried. There was no censure in their faces, no condemnation. All he could see was understanding.

It was Adeline who spoke first.

‘I guessed you would become a fugitive after what happened to James Felder, Birch,’ she said gently.

Birch shrugged and looked down. ‘I was a killer.’

‘Rigdon Elliott saw it differently, Birch,’ Andrea said. ‘But, of course, it was too late by then.’

Painted River’s former sheriff had gone far since the old days, more of a friend to Birch than an enemy. Elliott had continued to pay occasional visits to his mother.

Elliott had never revealed to Adeline any details of Birch’s exploits or his alias, and for that Birch would always be grateful. But he realized now that he and the marshal had rarely discussed the violent events here in the valley that had driven him from his home and on to the owl hoot trail.

‘How did the marshal see it, Andrea?’ he asked.

Adeline answered the question.

‘Rigdon said that the men Big Bruce sent after you that night did not constitute a posse. They were not deputized and had no authority to pursue you. Therefore, when they tried to kill you, you had the legal right to defend yourself.’

Birch understood now why Elliott had never told him this. It would have been hard to take, for it had been the assumption that he was a killer in the eyes of the law that had driven him to adopt an alias and live as an outlaw. How different his life might have been had he known the truth back then!

It was far too late now.

Yet now he had made a clean breast of his past, he felt good because they were not condemning him.

It was growing late. He knew there were some risks involved in his overstaying his welcome, yet could not drag himself away. And when Adeline suggested that he and Andrea might like a little time alone, he jumped at the chance.

They strolled together down to the creek, observed only by the stars in the sky.

‘It is lovely to see you again, Birch.’

‘You too. . . .’ Birch was thinking about Molly. They were the same, he and Molly. Andrea was different. She had been a gentle lady when they had met, and had remained that way. She had not condemned the way of life he had chosen, but he knew it had opened up a vast chasm between them. Not that it mattered greatly, he told himself. What had existed between himself and the lovely young woman at his side was long gone.

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